


Devotion

by Chinagirl18



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Dark, Drama, Family, Gnomes, Sadness, Suspense, cute original character, kid power, pity
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-04
Updated: 2016-09-04
Packaged: 2018-08-12 21:53:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7950526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chinagirl18/pseuds/Chinagirl18
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pike and Scanlan get caught in a messy situation, and it's up to them to get themselves out of it. Only fate will tell if they escape before they're both killed. // NOT a romance story. Just the opposite. // Major writer's block atm. Story on hold.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Devotion

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Critical Role is not mine. It is all from the genius that is Matt Mercer and the CritRole gang.
> 
> Hello, fellow Critters! How very nice to officially join the fandom with my first Critical Role fanfic! I started watching over the summer and I found somewhere to participate in Pathfinder soon - I'm excited! :D
> 
> This is Pike/Scanlan centered, contains some semi-regrettable Pike!whump in future chapters. I'm missing Ashley/Pike in recent episodes, so I started writing this over the summer. It's a long first chapter, and I'm in the middle of the second, but don't really know how long it's going to be. This is a planned three-shot!
> 
> If you have any tips, or want to let me know what you think, leave a review! Hope you enjoy! Also, Happy Labor Day!

Pike and Scanlan had risen early in the day, much to Scanlan's protests, and left for the village to buy some fresh food from the local market for the whole of Vox Machina.

"Scanlan," called Pike from the tomato stand, "do these look alright?"

Scanlan walked over to her, humming a tune in his head. "They do, my lovely Pike," he said in a sing-song voice.

"Good," and the gnome cleric plopped three of them into a straw basket. She paused for a moment. "I think we should get some ale for Grog. He's been an extra big help recently, and I think he deserves some cheering up after the whole Craven Edge incident."

"Agreed!" exclaimed Scanlan, and he had already taken ten steps toward the closest bar.

"That's not _exactly_ what I was thinking," said Pike to herself and had to run to catch up with him before he walked into the bar and immediately began a brawl.

Pike caught motion in the corner of her eye and looked to her right. She saw the boots of a small figure running into an alley and two larger figures chasing the first. The quick glance she caught of their faces told her that they did not have particularly peaceful intentions for the small one.

"Scanlan," whispered Pike once she had caught up to him. "Those two are up to no good."

The bard stopped and looked slightly heartbroken by being delayed from ale and women, but could not help but be interested in early-morning action. "Which two?"

"The two that just ducked into the alley over there," said Pike, pointing just beyond the tomato cart they had come from. "There was another gnome being chased into it. Come on, Scanlan, we have to help a fellow gnome!"

Scanlan nodded and they both headed over to the alley, going as fast as they could without attracting any attention. They both listened at the opening for a moment and they heard scuffles about halfway down, followed by snickers.

Pike went to enter, but Scanlan put his short arm out, halting her. "Get behind me, milady."

Pike looked at him with raised eyebrows, half-humorously, half-annoyed, and then pushed his arm aside and proceeded ahead of him. Scanlan watched the cleric for a short moment, admiring her, and then followed.

They had barely gone five steps in the shadowed alley when they heard a loud shout, assuming it to be the lone gnome, and they broke into a sprint. They found the gnome on the ground, his nose broken and bleeding and scratches on his arms and face. He was much younger than Pike, just around ten years old. A child.

Pike and Scanlan approached the boy but when he saw them as two dark figures he did not recognize, he meekly put up his fists. "Get away!"

"Oh, it's okay," said Pike in a calming voice. "We're not going to hurt you. We're not like those bullies." She knelt down next to the young gnome and she was happy to see that he did not try to scurry away any further. He seemed like a very trusting boy, and she admired that. "Do you know where they went?"

The little gnome nodded, sniffled, and then pointed behind to the end of the alley where it opened onto the next street over. "They ran when I yelled," he squeaked.

Pike gave Scanlan a look and he nodded in understanding. He hurried away to see if he could still spot the two anywhere close.

Pike turned back to the boy on the ground. "What's your name?"

"Trune," he said.

"Hi, Trune," said Pike, smiling and offering a hand. "It's nice to meet you." To her surprise, he took it and gave her a good, strong handshake, slightly deceiving compared to his size. "Now let's look at your nose." She gave it a quick look over and also assessed the scrapes and scratched scattered on his body. She then closed her eyes and held the symbol of Sarenrae in her hand, pressing it to her heart.

It didn't take much effort at all and she knew when it was done when the boy shouted in glee.

"Whoa!"

She opened her eyes to see him grinning at her, and she smiled warmly back.

"That was so cool! We don't have any healers here, at least not any good ones. Thanks!"

Pike laughed. "You're very welcome."

At that moment, Scanlan ran back into the alley, clearly with neither of the wrongdoers in hand. He waved to Pike, but instead of stopping to join her and Trune, continued to run past as he spotted something behind her.

She turned to see what he caught his attention and glanced the back of a large male form disappearing around the corner. Scanlan was already at the corner to try and catch up with their visitor.

He was a quick and stealthy creature, however, because Scanlan did not find him and returned to Pike with a deep frown on his face.

"That's okay," said Pike, turning back to Trune, although a bit disappointed. "He's bound to show up again soon."

"Yeah, but whether it'll be a good time or a bad time, we won't know until then," said Scanlan sourly. He knew that the creature-person was interested in the gnomes but did not know why and was not quite looking forward to finding out, which was unfortunately inevitable.

"Anyway," said Pike, now smiling widely. "Where do you live, Trune?"

"About ten houses out of town, southeast." He stood up, his head coming to just below Pike's chin, and pointed out the way they had come in, and Pike followed where he indicated.

"Southeast?" she asked carefully.

"Yeah," said Trune.

Scanlan laughed like he would laugh at a baby stumbling in its first steps. Pike smiled a little but kept her laugh to herself. "That's northwest, Trune."

Trune's face fell a little, and his arm went to his side. "Oh."

"Those two must have socked you a little harder than you thought," said Scanlan, giving him a small pat on the back.

Trune gave Pike and Scanlan a sheepish smile. "Yeah, I guess I'm not as good with directions as I thought, either." He looked at his shoes for a moment, but perked up a second later. "But I can _show_ you! I walk here every day!"

"That's great, Trune," said Pike. "We don't need to be anywhere soon, so we would be glad to accompany you."

"Great!" exclaimed Trune. He grinned at his two new friends and dashed in between them to leave the alley the way they had come. Scanlan and Pike were quick to follow.

Trune had disappeared around the corner and was seen jumping in place as Pike and Scanlan emerged, eagerly waiting for them to catch up. "I always pass this well. I even carved my name on it!" He pointed to a brick on the well halfway up, and in small scratched white letters, it read, "TRUNE". Around his name were short lines going outward, like his name was the sun that shined on the brick.

"It's a work of art if I've ever seen one," said Scanlan, adopting an impressed expression.

This made Trune smile even wider. "Thank you!" and then he was racing off again. The other gnomes followed until they reached a small, wooded area a mile north of the last cottage. He stopped at the edge and became oddly solemn.

"This area can be a little dangerous," said Trune, "but only at nighttime, and because of animals, usually. Nothing has ever happened in the daytime, though, so we're okay. Still, I don't like to hang around."

Pike looked at the trees that now seemed to leer ominously over her short form. She felt a small tickle of discomfort in her gut.

"You're sure this is safe, Trune?" asked Scanlan, trying to peer into the unusually shadowy forest, looking for moving shapes or suspicious wanderers.

"Yep," confirmed Trune confidently. "Just follow me."

Scanlan nodded and followed him as he entered the line of tall trees and onto a narrow and worn dirt path. Pike stood on the border for a second, took a deep breath, and shoved down the feeling of uneasiness in her stomach before following.

The path was uneven, implying it was not a commonly taken route, which made complete sense to Scanlan, since this place, even in the middle of the day, was the opposite of welcoming. He wondered why the odd feeling did not deter Trune from trekking through, not once but twice a day, but assumed that Trune was too young, too innocent, too naïve to suspect a place so close to his home as such a dangerous one – more than he could imagine.

"I slept up there one time," said Trune, breaking the long silence. Trune pointed up to the trees, guiding his new friends' eyes to parts of a stick, leaf, and straw hammock, the middle of it having rotted away a long time ago, and the edges of the makeshift hammock claimed by animals for use of their own nature homes.

Both Scanlan and Pike were impressed by the young gnome's resourcefulness and survival skills. Pike looked up in amazement and Scanlan gave Trune a friendly punch on the arm.

"Well done!" he exclaimed. The mood was lightened for a moment before a dark shape passed to their right, just about twenty yards off. Scanlan turned but the shape was lost in the shadowy bushes. "Stay here," he told Pike and Trune, who now looked uneasy, Trune more so that Pike. He ran off towards where the large shape disappeared to, determined not to let it escape again.

"Maybe it's a deer," said Trune.

Trune had truly never experienced anything frightening in the hundreds of daytime walks, and so he was deciding whether to ever trust the woods after today, but chose to stay with Pike and Scanlan until then.

"Yeah, maybe."

Pike, remembering the escaped creature from the alley, prepared to cast a shield charm on Trune – she could take care of herself – but was startled when Scanlan shouted from out of sight, and she lost her concentration, rendering the spell unsuccessful.

"Scanlan?" Pike yelled. She waited but heard nothing. "Scanlan!" she tried again, but still nothing. She turned to Trune. "I'm going to go check on Scanlan but I want you to stay here. I will make sure you're protected from whatever threat there is. If someone or something gets too close, shout like you've never shouted before, got it?"

He nodded.

Pike's brow furrowed as, this time, she cast a shield of faith successfully on Trune's small form, and then raced to where Scanlan was last seen some yards away.

She approached quickly but slowed to a crawl as she peered into the bushes. She waited a moment, and then in a hushed voice asked, "Scanlan?"

"Pike," came Scanlan's voice from behind, somewhere out of sight. A short arm appeared from behind a tree surrounded by brush and beckoned her over to him. "Over here." He sounded troubled.

Pike sighed, incredibly relieved that Scanlan was unharmed. "Scanlan, you scared me," she said. She jogged over to him and stopped by his side. He was looking down at something, so she also looked down.

There at his feet lay a dead fox. The fox's body disturbed her because it was lying on the ground on its own entrails. It was torn down the middle and its stomach lay opened.

Most disturbing of all, however, was that it was fresh. The flies hadn't found the smell yet and the blood was just starting to soak into the dirt.

There was indeed danger here, and it was much more dangerous than a common animal. Pike's heart began to shake. Seeing such destruction of an animal by a conscientious creature with no respect for its life or death gave Pike not only great sorrow, but also great dread. This death was very fresh, which meant the monster was definitely still nearby.

Scanlan spoke up, his voice careful and quiet. "We should get back to Trune."

Pike nodded in agreement and they quickly made their way to Trune, who was thankfully standing just where Pike had left him, albeit a little less sure of his surroundings and a little less comfortable than before.

The young gnome approached Pike and Scanlan as they got closer, meeting somewhere in the middle.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, peering slightly past them towards the dead fox, which remained unbeknownst to him.

"Just a little interruption, Trune," said Pike quietly. "As soon as we leave this area, we should be just fine."

Scanlan gently pushed Trune ahead of him so that Pike was in front and Scanlan flanked him as they hurried along their way. They stayed close together and Pike and Scanlan were both constantly checking their sixes, and their nines, and their threes.

The forest edge, even though only 20 minutes after they had entered, finally appeared like a savior in front of them.

Trune was relieved to be out of the forest, but in ignorance. Pike and Scanlan, on the other hand, were relieved because they knew exactly what they had seen. Once they got Trune home safely, they were going to take the long way back to the rest of Vox Machina.

Pike took a deep breath as she stepped over the forest boundary. Beyond the tree line laid a short circle of five old cottages, each about fifty yards away from each other. The air around her felt lighter, the ominous feeling no longer looming overhead.

"That's my house!" exclaimed Trune, pointing at the one across the circle, facing them. It was a cute, cozy little cottage with vines climbing up from the bottom foundation. A wooden picnic table sat outside in the front yard. Flowers were sprinkled along the base of the home, bringing small amounts of blue, red and purple to the homey scenery. Through the front window a brown-haired gnome could be seen with a broom, stretching and pulling it over and over again.

Trune's face brightened as he noticed the woman. He turned and tugged on Scanlan's and Pike's arms. "That's my mom! Come and meet her!"

"Alright," said Pike, glad to be in someone's company again. "Just give us a minute and we'll be right there."

"Okay!" agreed Trune. He then turned on the spot and ran to his mother.

Pike turned immediately and faced Scanlan, her expression solemn.

"What happened?" she asked. "Why was there a butchered fox in there? Trune was only feet away! What if whatever did that to that fox had gotten to Trune?"

Scanlan took a few steps back. Pike was speaking as if he had a clue as to what was going on. "I have no idea, but I'm more concerned about the _who_ ," said Scanlan. He paused a second when he spotted Trune looking out of the cottage window and waving to him. Scanlan waved back and held up his index finger, telling Trune that they would be there in a moment. Trune smiled and nodded excitedly, and turned back to his mother, who had started cooking a late breakfast.

Scanlan's smile disappeared as soon as Trune turned away. "I'm going back for a better look," he stated, turning around. Pike took hold of his shoulder and turned him back to face her.

"We have to be smart about this, Scanlan," she said. "We can't just walk in without any knowledge of what happened. We're lucky to have gotten out all right. You heard Trune – he stays out of there at night because it's dangerous. What if these dangerous things are active _all_ day?"

Scanlan considered what Pike said. "Okay, but we need to check it out before we go back to the group." He looked over Pike's shoulder at Trune's house. "To make sure Trune and his mother are safe, as well as the other families here."

Pike nodded. "Agreed." She smiled. "First let's get a nice warm meal." She turned to make her way to join Trune and his mother, her stomach already growling.

Pike's relaxation did not last, however, because a large arm from behind her wrapped around her waist and squeezed, expelling whatever air was in her lungs and lifting her off the ground. She shouted in alarm and heard Scanlan do the same. She would have tried using magic but she was being roughed up so much she could barely think straight. It took all she had to focus on keeping herself calm and aware.

As her eyes passed over Trune's house, she saw him turn towards their direction. His expression changed from excitement, to surprise, to alarm. Without thinking he dashed out the door, waiting to help his friends in any way. Their attacker saw this and Pike was scared he would harm Trune then and there. Instead, he held Scanlan and Pike even tighter and quickly backed into the shadowed forest. He ran left and diagonal and stopped behind a tree, wide enough to hide his large form. It was only a short distance from where Trune would enter the forest; too close for Pike's comfort.

Scanlan had taken injury; his ribs would be bruised the next day, and he was struggling to maintain his breath and consciousness.

Pike, in the half-orc's other arm, had decided not to struggle after her first few attempts that ended up fruitless. She would also be bruised, but she thanked Sarenrae that her consciousness was still present.

As the half-orc hid, his chest rising up and down as he breathed, she could hear his heartbeat, which was beating faster than a normal person under stress.

"Pike!" came Trune's voice, still distant. "Scanlan!"

 _No, no, no_ , thought Pike. _Get away from here, Trune!_

The half-orc's heart rate increased, and she realized that as his heart rate increased, his arms became tighter, stronger. Pike feared that he would actually crush her in his arms. She hoped that Scanlan was not getting the same treatment. A few seconds passed and her vision went black.

* * *

Trune ran towards the giant holding his friends and watched as he carried them back into the woods and disappeared. Without hesitation, Trune entered the forest and stopped to listen for any movement. He looked around, peering down under tree branches and standing on his toes to look over logs. The path in front of him was the easiest to follow, but it was also the clearest and he was sure he would have seen a large, muscled person running away. Yet he hadn't, and that frustrated him. He turned around to glance at his mother and saw her standing at the doorway, giving him a worried expression.

He wanted to look for his friends, but now that he knew there was an actual threat, he did not want to leave his mother alone.

He ended up standing there at the forest perimeter for another five minutes, listening and watching. For anything.

Unbeknownst to Trune, his friends were hanging limp in the half-orc's arms just about thirty feet to his left, well covered in the shadows. As Trune reluctantly turned back to his home, his foot passed by a basket full of tomatoes lying on its side, hidden from sight in the bushes.


End file.
